


That-Saving-People-Thing

by Punxtheup



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Humor, Daphne isn't mean automatically, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Harry smokes, Investigations, Muggle Television References, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Private Investigators, Probably gonna be some sex at some point, Punk, Recovery, Romance, Slice of Life, Smoking, i suck at slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:54:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28618386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punxtheup/pseuds/Punxtheup
Summary: Romance blooms in the most uncommon places. After being tortured for weeks following the final battle, Harry Potter comes to the rescue of Daphne Greengrass and slowly they begin to unfold the mystery of where exactly Antonin Dolohov is now.
Relationships: Daphne Greengrass/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Tracey Davis/Neville Longbottom
Comments: 34
Kudos: 109





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Some time in the future

As Harry's lips pressed into hers, she let out a surprised squeak before relaxing into it, her arms tossed over his shoulders and crossed lazily at the wrists. She could feel the kiss throughout her body, echoing through every nerve ending, starting in her toes and running all the way up to the top of her head.

"Fucking hell, I've been wanting that all summer, Potter." She said to him as he backed away slightly, tugging him back once more by the front of his shirt, shy smile playing at her lips for the first time in what felt like forever, as her mouth parted slightly for him.

Since they had first seen each other, the two had spent nearly every second of every day together. Following the final battle, Harry had fallen into old habits, secluding himself away from the world and not letting anyone in; drinking too much firewhiskey and smoking too many cigarettes. He had spent his days wandering through muggle London until he had seen her propped against the wall, blonde hair loosely plaited, high cheek bones - the poster child for aristocratic women, had it not been for the blood on her mouth and clothes and her blackened eyes.

* * *

June 18th, 

Daphne Greengrass didn't remember how she had gotten into Dolohov's hands; all she knew was that this must be what the muggles meant when they described hell. All she wanted was to die. Everything hurt; her bones, her joints, her muscles. The cruciatus curse was a terrible thing to behold, especially in the hands of someone who was a self proclaimed expert.

All this, simply because her father had refused to bow before Dolohov as the next dark lord, some kind of fucked up delusion of grandeur fueling his hatred for her and her family. She felt a tear drop down her face as the ropes dug just a little bit more into her wrists. With the slightest bit of will she looked up towards the window, her only source of comfort in the weeks since her capture, days after the final battle.

When her family had been slaughtered like cattle, and she had been kidnapped for the vile man's perverse torture fantasy, she thought she would be saved, be brought out of hell. But help never did come.

The sun fell upon her face and all she could think of was how much pain she was in, and how badly she needed to be out of this awful abandoned building. She willed with everything in her to just be free, be somewhere else, somewhere she could be free from the pain.

With a pop, she disapparated from her prison and everything went black.

June 18th, 10:45 AM

Nothing was going right for Harry; between the fight with Ginny - her having fallen for Seamus in the time they had been hunting horcruxes - and the fact that he just dropped half a cigarette in the gutter, life was not going as planned. He had wanted to just come home and rest, pick up where they left off, just exist without some kind of meaning. That had all been cast away though, and with Ron and Hermione still searching for her parents in Australia, he was beginning to feel even more alone. 'Maybe I should get a pet,' He thought to himself.

He lit a new cigarette - a habit he had picked up just to give his hands something to do during his walks throughout muggle London - and took a deep hit, letting the Sterling dissipate a bit of the anxiety through the deep breathing.

After the battle and the subsequent battle with Ginny, he couldn't stay at the burrow; no matter how much everyone said he was welcome, it just didn't feel the same any more. With a sigh, he looked around. He was nearly back to his road now; the small studio flat he had bought after the war was perfect. It kept him busy with the near constant repairs, and didn't have the awful memories he associated with Grimauld place.

Harry heard labored breathing coming from the alley, and he cautiously grabbed his wand from his sleeve. Peaking around the corner he saw a female figure, small and lithe, covered in blood and bruises leaned up against the wall, the picture of defeat.

"Hello?" Harry spoke carefully, creeping closer, watching the gentle breaths coming from the woman's chest. As he stepped closer he looked, appalled at the way she had been picked apart, and that's when he recognized her. "Fucking hell; Greengrass?"

Daphne woke up a bit at the sound of her name but all she could do was croak out a soft "help" before the waves of unconsciousness once more glazed over her eyes.

With a careful hand, Harry easily picked up the small girl newlywed style, "Of course, of course," he mumbled more to himself than to her. He propped open the door to his hallway and climbed the stairway up to his flat, popping the door open and bringing her inside. He carefully laid her down on the bed and began running some diagnostic charms after wrapping his quilt around her. "Broken ribs.. orbital bone... need some blood replenisher...needs a bath like nobody's business too.." he mumbled again, lighting a cigarette and popping open a window. He threw an old shirt of his and some pajama bottoms on the bed next to her. "Diagon alley," He spoke aloud to himself. Grabbing a pen and paper he set about writing a note in case she woke up.

Daphne,

You're safe. I went to the Apothecary to get some potions for you. Don't panic. Everything will be alright. You're safe. The clothes are for you. I promise, they're the comfiest thing I have. Feel free to use the bath, we'll talk more when I get home.

Harry

P.S. Got a spare wand under the sink in the bathroom for emergency purposes. Feel free.

* * *

June 18th, 11:02 AM

Harry was once again a man on a mission as he pulled the hood of his jumper up and made his way through the crowd to the Apothecary, going over what had happened. This was a purpose. Something that could drive him to help once again. He smoked as he walked, cracking his neck, head constantly watching for trouble. He made his way into the Apothecary and set about finding the potions.

"Harry Potter?" The sales clerk said, his eyes glancing up in the stereotypical way that everyone's eyes seemed to when speaking to The-Man-Who-Lived, "Just wanted to say thank you. Anything you need sir, on the house."

Not even thinking, the words seemed to fly out of his mouth, "Blood replinisher, pain reliever, some skelegrow and maybe a calming draught for myself." Harry chuckled darkly and threw a few galleons on the counter. "And I'm paying."

* * *

June 18th, 11:07 AM

Daphne came to in an unfamiliar place; blanket wrapped around her. She slowly lifted herself up to a sitting position, listening to the quietness of the small flat. As she swung her legs over the side of the bed the note flew from the bed and she flinched, anticipating a hit but it never came. The entire place smelled so comforting, the smell of curry and other take out, of cigarette smoke. Hell, anything would be better than where she just was, and the scent of her own stench mixed with the sweat of her torturer.

She picked up the note and shivered, tugging the quilt tighter around herself. "Potter found me?" She asked the universe, "Hasn't he done enough for people? Bloody fuck, what must he think? Just another damsel in distress. Merlin, he's so sweet though.."

Daphne stood slowly, letting out a low groan as she did so, holding tightly onto her ribs that felt as if they had just caught fire; she felt so exposed currently and just dirty. Making her way into the bathroom slowly, she began running a bath, the clothes thrown onto the toilet seat as she tugged off the disgusting dress she was currently wearing, along with her shoes and socks. She snagged the wand that Harry had told her about and left it lying on the edge of the clawfoot tub.

Relaxing down into the hot water, Daphne let out a sigh, moving every muscle to let a bit of stress out. She realized she was still in shock, not really acting how most would assume a torture victim would act, but after 7 years in the slytherin dungeons, she could shove all this shit down for now. She would figure it out later when she knew for a fact that everything was fine and she was safe.

* * *

June 18th, 11:57 AM

Harry walked up the stairs to his flat, cigarette hanging from between his lips. He quietly opened the door, careful not to wake the sleeping Pureblood until realizing she wasn't there. He could hear the bath tub being filled, and with a quick cleaning charm to clean the foul from the bed up, he grabbed the remote control and flicked the tv on, keeping the volume low.

He set about making up some cups for her potions that she was to take, and turned around to the fridge beginning to make some quick Kraft dinner, since you weren't supposed to take potions on an empty stomach.

Harry took a seat on the stool he kept by the stove and propped his feet up on the counter, summoning a strongbow from the fridge. He drank about a quarter of it, watching some american sitcom on the tv, just using it to keep his eyes busy.

The door to the bathroom slowly opened as the tub began to drain out into the pipes. Harry stood and walked that way, putting his cigarette out in an ashtray as he walked.

"Daphne, you okay?" He asked, walking her way. She looked so small and lost as she looked up at him.

"You saved my life, Potter. I don't know how you found me. I don't know where you found me, but I'm forever indebted to you." She spoke softly and seriously, shivering from the cold tile on her bare feet.

"You don't owe me anything, Greengrass." He said, smiling at her softly, "Rescuing People is what I do best."

She chuckled softly and sat back down on the bed, "Well you did a damn fine job of it, Potter." She gasped in pain as she let her weight down fully. "Fuck."

"Such language.." Harry chuckled under his breath as he brought the plate with the potions on it to her and set a bowl of food down in her lap.

After he set it down, she took every potion without the slightest complaint and tugged the blanket around her again, bowl of Kraft dinner in hand. "I'm going to be incredibly honest with you right now, Potter." Daphne spoke softly her voice gently hitching, "Don't take this for granted." She sat thinking about how she was going to say this. "I'm in an incredible amount of pain right now, my family was... well they aren't with us anymore and I'm terrified." Her eyes refused to leave the wall in front of her, looking a bit like a doe in headlights. She looked so defeated and just exhausted "All I want is to lay down and feel like I'm not in danger for once, and if there is one single person in the world who would never hurt me, it's Harry fucking Potter. So Harry," she began, trying to gain the courage to ask a question that she didn't think he would reject, "Will you lay next to me, at least until I fall asleep?"

Without a word he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and let her rest her cheek on his chest, silent tears streaming down her face as he lit a cigarette and softly ran his fingers through her hair his own head propped up on the wall behind them. He placed the empty bowl on the bed side table.

"You're safe now, Daphne. Nobody's gonna hurt you." He spoke softly, a gentle rumble in her ear as she clutched to him like a lifeline. "And we're gonna find whoever's done this."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

June 19th, 9:37 AM

The smell of coffee was the first thing to hit Daphne as she came to, her cheek still resting against Harry's chest, hand tightly clenching his shirt in a puddle of her own drool. She wiped her mouth. "Sleep well?" Harry asked, seeming like he already knew the answer. Daphne tensed up, embarrassed and slightly confused as to where she was before settling down a bit. 

Daphne had had the dreams again all night. Memories replaying continuously of the hell she went through at the hands of Antonin Dolohov. She was still feeling jumbled, and could only hope that she hadn't kept Harry up too much throughout the night.

Harry turned the tv off as he leaned down to help move her into a sitting position. "Alright. So, were gonna take care of this guy who did this to you, Daphne. I just need a name."

She froze, feeling the anxiety welling up in her stomach and reached for the bedside table for Harry's pack of cigarettes. She fumbled a bit trying to get one out and light it. "Fuck, I'm not ready.." she said softly, eyes out of focus.

Her hands shook, not so much from the small bit of pain she still had in her ribs and face, but mainly from the fear. Fear that Dolohov would get her again. She started to look around the flat at the single room that seemed to take up the entire flat aside from the bathroom, reaching for a wand or something to keep her protected unt-

"Daphne."

Until she could do something to call attention to someone, someone who could help.

"Oi, Greengrass..." he said, waving his hand close to her.

"Yes?" She responded, coming out of her almost-panic-attack.

"Literally just killed a dark lord. I think I can handle one of his henchmen." Harry said with a sense of confidence that had never shown itself before. Maybe killing Voldemort had actually done something good for him. 

Daphne covered her mouth as she smiled, unable to stop the exasperated chuckle that formed. "I suppose you have a point, Potter."

She accio'd a cup of coffee using the spare wand Potter had given her the previous night. It wasn't a perfect fit by any stretch of the imagination, but it was something. "Dolohov." She said after a beat, nose still slightly upturned at the need to even say the lowlife's name. 

Harry lit a cigarette and nodded, stretching as he did so, his own cup of coffee precariously sitting on his knee cap, being held in place by his hand. "So I say we both get washed up and we can start hunting. Sound like a plan?"

Daphne nodded, sipping from her cup. "Sounds perfect, Potter."

* * *

June 19th, 11:15 AM

After a couple showers for Harry and Daphne - short and long respectively - they both were ready to go. Harry had both of his wands, his first wand up his sleeve and the elder wand strapped to his ankle, along with a large bowie knife he had taken to carrying after finding it in his vault. 

Daphne looked him up and down as he got ready, eyes taking in the rather tall man. She'd never really checked him out, as at school it had usually been work, work, and more work, instead of getting boy crazy as her best friend had done, but Tracey had always described Potter as fit, and the description definitely held true. _‘I should try and get a hold of her at some point,’_ Daphne thought to herself. "Potter, do you have an owl?"

Harry nodded, pointing towards the back room, the only other room save for the bathroom. "There's a walk-in closet that I expanded; it's used mainly for storage and it has a little window and a desk. If you wanna send a letter feel free."

"You're an amazing host, Mr. Potter." Daphne said, matter-of-factly as she made her way into the room and quickly penned a letter to Tracey. 

_Dearest Tracey,_

_So much has gone on that I want to be able to tell you about, but I just don’t feel as if writing it down will do it. I'm staying with a friend, and I'm safe, you should drop by-_

"Potter, would you mind terribly if Tracey were to come visit us tomorrow? I haven't seen her since the final battle and she's my best friend and-"

"Of course, Daphne. No need to explain." Potter said, leaning casually on the door frame. 

Daphne gave him a shy smile, eyes lingering a second past what would be considered the norm.

_-tomorrow if you're able to. We have so much to dscuss, and to be terribly honest, I miss my best friend._

_Lots of love,_

_Daphne Greengrass_

She placed the letter on the tawny owls leg and gave its head a few scratches before opening the window to let it out. "Thanks," she muttered to the owl before turning around and looking at Potter, who had a grin on his face at the sight of her.

"What?"

“Nothing, nothing, you’re just cute is all,” He chuckled to himself as he finished off his cup of coffee. "Never seen anyone thank their owl before."

Daphne blushed and turned her nose up haughtily, "Always ungrateful, are you, Potter?" She questioned , making her way back into the main room. "So, problem. I have your clothes, Potter. I need some of my own."

"I figured we would start by going to Diagon Alley. It sounds stupid, but I want to get you acclimated to being around people again before we hunt down Dolohov actively. You've been through some shit, Daphne. I'd rather we do this safely." He tugged a beanie onto his head, covering up his slightly shaggy hair. "I dont have great clothes, but I have a bit of a selection. We'll get you a few new outfits while-"

"Potter, I'm poor. The dark lord took our-"

"Merlin, you had to have been raised better than to interrupt people, Daphne." He said with a smirk in her direction, a smile playing on his lips as he looked down at the petite blonde, "As I was saying, we'll get you a few outfits while we're out. I wanna start hunting on Friday. The Ministry has already been alerted, I sent an owl this morning while you were in the shower. They're keeping an eye out, but with how thinly they're stretched..." Harry took a drag of his cigarette and walked back into the kitchen, Daphne following close behind.

"...They decided to just let me take the case as a private contractor." He kept his eyes on her as he refilled their cups.

"So basically, it's all up to us." Harry nodded and loaded her coffee cup with the sugar and milk she preferred in it, taking only 4 scoops of sugar in his own. 

"Obviously, we're getting paid for this, not that money is much of an issue. At all, really. And we're allotted two other partners. With Hermione and Ron in Australia, I got ahold of Neville and invited him to help since he's doing nothing but some minor recovery at his home. You should invite Davis to help out."

"Merlin, you're just too sweet, Potter." She said taking a drink from her coffee cup and making her way to the mirror in the bathroom to put her makeup charms on for the day.

//////

Harry watched as Daphne made her way into the bathroom, checking her out again. It was something he had been doing a lot recently, if he was being honest with himself. She came off so haughty and guarded, but honestly, from the little interactions they had had, she was such a cool person to be around. 

Harry stubbed his cigarette out and flipped through the TV channels for a little while, sipping on his coffee at the little bar attached to the island in his kitchen. He scratched at the stubble that had been beginning to grow out a bit on his face. He kinda liked it so far, and wanted to see how it would work out. 

Daphne came out of the bathroom wearing a tight pair of black jeans and his old quidditch Jersey - just shrunk down about 3 sizes. "I was pretty good at transfiguration." She said, answering his unasked question as she sat next to him, putting her socks on. 

"Definitely looks better on you." He remarked.

She blushed. "So, wanna just walk there? Diagon is about a ten minute walk." 

"Sounds like a plan," She answered, "Maybe get some food while we're out too. You're an incredible cook, Potter, but I'm fucking dying for some curry." She opened the door and stepped out, not wandering out too far, still seeming a bit agoraphobic. 

"Ah, a woman after my own heart." He said, only slightly blushing as he looked at the door and heard a commercial start for strongbow cider back inside. "You a lager or cider gal?"

"Mr. Potter, I can assure you I have no idea what you could mean." She said playfully, "But if I did, I would be forced to say lager." She finished with a wink as they began to walk, making their way down the stairs and outside.

"Cider man, myself. We'll get a few six packs on the way home as well. Gotta make sure you're comfortable and relaxed. Been through too much shit in the past two weeks, Daphne."

"Harry," he looked up at her using his first name as she stared up at him affectionately, "are you brain dead, dear? You just took down the dark lord. Merlin, always have to be saving someone, don't you?" She remarked playfully, her arm looping through his own as they walked. Purely out of safety, of course.

Harry chuckled and bumped her hip with his own, "Keep it up, Greengrass, and you'll be dressing only in last season's fashion."

"Merlin forbid..." Daphne said sarcastically, laughing with Potter.

* * *

June 19th, 12:13 pm

After exiting Ollivander's which had recently reopened just in time for the school year, they made their way towards Madam Malkins. Harry had made her get a new wand so she could keep what she had recently found was Draco Malfoy's wand as a spare, and have one that actually worked for her how it was supposed to. 

"So robes here, clothes in muggle London, and maybe a book or two if you want?"

"Potter you're doing so much for me. Like, you really dont have-"

"And like I said before, we'll grab a few beers for tonight. I know you're more into books than TV, it's just such a luxury now," He said with a shrug. "Is there a lot of wizarding fiction?"

"Oh merlin, yes. There’s nothing I like more than curling up with a nice trashy romance novel. My mum always hid her addiction to them from my father, but I feel as if he knew." She would not cry now, dammit. Harry squeezed her arm reassuringly and lightly bumped her hip with his own. 

"You're probably not ready yet, but when you are, I'm here to talk, Daphne. Trust me, I understand the wounds left in families after the war." 

Daphne merely looked up at him appreciatively. 

_SNAP_

The flash from the camera was blinding and in an instant Harry's wand was in his hand, Daphne being pushed behind him. He couldn't see past the flashes of light in his eyes, but was ready for a fight before hearing the snicker of the paparazzi.

"Fucking vultures." He muttered under his breath as his vision began to come back to him and he saw the man running away.

"Not worth it, Potter. Not worth it."

"Merlin only knows what they're gonna print in the paper tomo-"

"Ah, fuck ‘em. We’ve got other stuff to do." Her hand slid into his and she laced fingers with him, her face only slightly more red in the cheeks, his own matching. 

* * *

June 19th, 12:30 PM

Daphne was still severely afraid of the crowds of diagon alley, but somehow being with Potter made it easier. _‘It's like having my own private security,’_ She thought to herself as she finally finished getting fitted for the robes. 

"Owl delivery okay, Miss Greengrass?" Madame Malkin asked politely.

"

Hmm? Yes, yes of course. Thank you so much." She responded, moving towards Harry, who was carrying a small shopping bag. It had been taking a while so he had wandered next door, leaving her in madame malkins for about 15 minutes by herself. Daphne felt like it was some sort of test, and with the smile on his face, she felt like she had passed. No panic attacks for 15 minutes straight, alone and in public. Hell yeah, go Daphne!

* * *

June 19th 1:32 PM 

As they reached the muggle shopping mall, Daphne made sure to figure out the best places for pants, shirts, underwear, everything and took Harry with her into every place. He waited patiently outside of each dressing room, flipping through some book he had brought with them.

They finally finished clothes shopping around 2 and had a small lunch in the food court. Sitting across from each other both of their eyes seemed to constantly dart behind the other, looking for threats. "So, I think we've both done incredible with being among the general public," Daphne began, "but Potter, I'm gonna be real with you. I'm mentally exhausted and want nothing more than to go grab a pint or three at the flat."

Harry nodded enthusiastically, "Watch some trash TV and not think about the war for a while, yeah? That sounds like heaven to me," He said, linking arms with her and turning down an alley with a loud pop. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotten some pretty good feedback so far, thanks guys. I'm putting chapters up as they're edited, so please be patient with us. Once again, thanks to my beta C. Fey. Read and review


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Less beta'd this chapter since I really just wanted to get another chapter out. I have another two chapters ready as well.

Chapter 3

June 19th, 2:37 PM 

They reappeared outside of the flat and went about putting Daphne's clothes away in the wardrobe next to Harry's, hanging them all up. She made damn sure to grab the Victoria's Secret bag and stuff it out of the way before he could see the contents. 

Harry ordered some takeaway on the phone and flipped the TV on for background noise, finally settling on some cooking show with an American chef. He occasionally liked to watch the food network, finding it a bit relaxing, reminding him of simpler times.

"Potter, what exactly is this?" Daphne asked, seemingly entrapped by the goings-on of the television. She had set both feet on the floor and was leaning slightly forward, pouring one of her lagers into the pint glass. 

"Uh, Emeril Legasse, it looks like. American cook, he says “BAM” a lot. He's pretty famous."

Daphne merely nodded along, eyes stuck to the television as Harry put his boots on and started to leave. "I'll lock it behind me. Wards are up in full force. I'll be back in about twenty."

Daphne nodded quickly, waving him off as she turned it up a few notches.

* * *

June 19th, 4:56 PM

As Harry walked along the street towards the little curry shop a couple blocks away, he couldn't help but think about how fast his life changed in a matter of two days. Going from being alone and trying to find stuff to do, to helping Daphne - a girl he had never even spoken to before - to not only heal physically but mentally as well. 

It really was a bit strange how quickly she seemed to get over it; just two days prior she had been on the verge of death after being tortured for days, weeks even. Then again, Harry knew that he was the same way, that his PTSD, as Hermione described it, kicked in and all of those bad memories would be shoved deep down.

Harry lit a cigarette and huffed it down as he walked the couple of blocks before finally getting to the curry shop. He tossed a few pounds on the counter, gave them his name, and collected the food.

On the way back to his flat, he stopped by a corner store. As he looked along the shelves he grabbed a couple bottles of nail varnish, and some snacks. ‘Girls like to paint their nails, yeah?’ He asked himself, smiling as he looked down at the colors he picked out. 

"Pack of sterlings as well, mate," Harry said as he put his items on the counter. The cashier nodded and put a pack of cigarettes in the bag as well as a book of matches. "Cheers," Harry said, tossing the money on the counter and walking back out.

As he made it to the door he opened it and stepped in. The television was on full blast and Daphne stood in the kitchen, eyes on the TV as she stirred something in a mixing bowl. "Potter dear, I've started the Orange scones. They should be done by the time we finish eating."

"Scones?"

"Why did you never tell me how amazing cooking is? Just the process alone, following the recipes that these people do, the repetition, the clearing of the head. You're not allowed to be the only cook here anymore."

Harry chuckled and brought the curry into the coffee table and began unbagging it. "I'm glad you're feeling so inspired and comfortable. This is something you should definitely pursue. Maybe get you a couple cook books or something, yeah?"

Daphne gave him a shy smile as she made her way around the island in the kitchen and into the living room. She sat down and poured another bottle of lager into her pint glass. "'Curry n a Hurry', yeah? That's cute. I like it. Spicy?"

"Eh, it's not too bad. There's a few better spots, but this one is close and the guys are friendly." 

"Red curry as well, yeah? It is the best. Potato is pretty good as well."

Harry nodded, digging into his takeaway box and taking a long drink from his bottle of strongbow. "I don’t like green curry though."

"Me neither," Daphne agreed.

"Hey Daph?"

"Yes?"

"How do you know so much about muggle culture?"

"Well, as much as mother loved her trashy romance novels, father loves muggle culture. I suppose it would be considered a bit patronizing, but he just thought muggles were fascinating. That's why he told that dandy Malfoy to get out of our house with his awful beliefs. It's the reason I had an O on my muggle studies N.E.W.T by the time I was a 5th year."

"It’s like any time you open your mouth you get more interesting," Harry said, feeling the third pint of cider already.

Daphne laughed laying back on the couch. "At this rate I'll have to keep you around purely for my confidence, Potter," She said, taking a long drink from her glass.

"I wouldn't mind that in the least," He said truthfully as he stuffed more food in his mouth. 

Daphne smiled at him, fighting off a blush as she started to dig into her food as well. The TV was still blaring and as she chewed on a piece of beef she took the opportunity to turn it down a couple notches. 

Harry finished his plate first and took it into the kitchen, placing it easily in the trash bin and grabbing another cider. "Daph, beer?"

"Yeah, cheers," she smiled back at him. "I know you probably feel weird with a strange girl practically living with you now, but like, after what happened, a bit of normalcy is nice." She shivered, eyes looking slightly blank as she stared off, thinking about what had happened. 

"It really doesn't feel like you're a stranger. We've been around each other for, like, two days straight, and at this point it feels normal for me too.

Her eyes were still unfocused when he got back into the living room, setting her beer down on the coffee table and taking a long drink of his own.

"You okay?" He asked, turning towards her slightly. 

She nodded, still looking a bit far away. Harry wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders and she placed her cheek on his shirt. Closing her eyes she rested there for a long minute, wiping her slightly damp eyes with the front of her shirt.

"Thanks Harry," she spoke softly, staying leaned against him. "You're just so sweet, too sweet really to damaged goods like me," Her breath hitched slightly and Harry tugged her just a bit closer, hand gently petting her hair. 

Merlin, would the boys in the dorm be jealous of him now, he thought to himself as he felt Daphne release some of that built up emotion. He rocked back and forth with her slowly until she could get her silent sobs under control and sat up, grabbing her beer and throwing the whole thing back, replacing it with the one Harry had just got her.

"You tell anyone about that, Potter, and you won't have bits left to hex off." She said with a watery chuckle, sniffling again and wiping her eyes. 

The stove dinged and Daphne made her way into the kitchen, grabbing a towel and pulling the scones out of the oven. She set them on top of the oven. "Gotta let them cool off," She said simply, grabbing a plate and putting a few on it. She walked back into the living room and sat down near Harry again, placing the plate down on the coffee table. 

"Oh shite, I forgot." He reached into the bag on the table and pulled out the bottles of nail varnish.

"How are you constantly reading my mind about things I want?" She laughed softly, picking out a metallic blue and stretching.

"I would say legilimency, but I'm absolute pants at the mind arts. Maybe I just know you well enough after two days."

"No way, Potter. Definitely legilimency."

* * *

June 19th, 9:21 PM 

They bantered back and forth as Daphne painted her fingernails, eating scones and trading jokes and anecdotes. She was incredibly easy to talk to and understood the way he thought, little quips being fired back and forth playfully.

Before too long the sound of an owl rapping could be heard at the window. Harry stood and got it, letting his owl Craig back in. 

"Letter for you, Daphne-dear." He said in a sing song voice. He handed it to her, watching her awkwardly try and position it on her fingertips without messing up the paint on her nails. 

"Thank you Harry-hon?" She shook her head. "That was ghastly. Potter-prince? Even worse. I'll come up with something, dont doubt me." She said with a laugh.

Daphne put her feet in Harry's lap as she read through the letter and Harry started painting her nails to match her finger nails. "Tracey said she'll be here in the morning. Is that still okay?" Harry nodded. "Awesome. You're the best."

Harry beamed at her and slammed the rest of his cider. "Well, maybe one more beer then, eh?"

Daphne giggled and finished her beer as well. "Eh, maybe two instead."

* * *

June 20th, 10:57 AM

As Tracey flooed into the flat, she looked at the image on the couch of Daphne fully stretched laying on top of Harry bloody Potter, face buried in his neck and his arms stretched tight around her, keeping her safe from whatever might try and harm her while they slept.

"Well, well, well." She said under her breath, making her way over to the kitchen and starting the process of making coffee. She walked around the kitchen island, the couch placed against it and peered down at Daphne and Potter. He really did look quite fit. 

"Trace?" Daphne muttered, voice barely a whisper as she climbed off of Potter. "What time is-" she held up a finger and ran off to the bathroom, the sounds of puking came from inside.

She came out a few minutes later, looking sheepish with Harry's bath robe thrown on over her pajamas. Stifling a yawn, "What time is it?"

"Eleven. I thought I'd be fashionably late, but I see that you two lovers weren't-"

"Not lovers." Daphne interjected.

"You two cuddle buddies," she corrected, sarcasm dripping, "weren't even awake yet."

Harry sat up on the couch, eyes still drooping. "Bloody hangovers.." he made his way into the kitchen, stopping to stretch a hand out towards Tracey, "Harry Potter." After a brief introduction he got a spot of coffee and sat down at the island.

"So when did," Tracey pointed between the two of them, "this all start?"

Both of the barely adults blushed and Harry hid a smile from behind his coffee. He lit a cigarette up, tugging an ashtray towards him. 

"Oh thank Merlin..." Tracey muttered, lighting up one of her own. 

"About three days ago. Harry here has been a perfect gentleman, giving me clothes, helping me get acclimated after what had happened. He's gotten me beer and food and painted my toenails and just generally taken care of me in every possible way. Sweetest man I've met, that's for sure." Daphne said, smiling at him which Harry was quick to return.

"You deserve that treatment, Daph. But why the need for it?" And in an instant Daphne's eyes seemed to look through her, staring at the wall. Harry's hand naturally went to her leg that was just slightly touching his own under the bar, giving it a slight squeeze to try and pull her out of it. 

"She was kidnapped. Tortured for days by that prick Dolohov. She somehow escaped and I found her outside my flat. Been doing my best to get her feeling comfortable and normal again." Starting to come back a bit, Daphne looked at him appreciatively.

"I've got a private contractor license, were gonna go after him, my mate Neville is coming over later. Trying to get a little hunting group to find this bastard. Are you in?"

"Well fucking duh, potter." Tracey said, barely believing the gall he had to ask. She was horrified at what had happened to her best friend, her sister in all but blood. She had to get Dolohov back for the torture Daphne had endured.

"Perfect." He stood once more and made a cup of coffee for Daphne, sitting it in front of her and poured one black for Tracey. He slid it down the counter to her, hitting his cigarette one last time before pushing it out.

"Well, I'm off to shower this hangover off, Daphne. You know where the wands and ward stones are. Yell if you need me." As he walked past her he gently squeezed her arm affectionately, being rewarded with a smile from the petite blonde.

As he closed the door to the bathroom, the black haired Tracey Davis looked to her best friend, pointing a sharpened black fingernail on the table in front of them, "Alright, dish. What's going on?"

Daphne simply smiled, blush lining her cheeks.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one hasn't been beta'd unfortunately

Chapter 4

June 20th, 1:30 PM

After a few hours of visiting, Tracey had left and Neville had sent a patronus saying he'd have to stop by the next day as his grandmother had come down with a cold. Which unfortunately left Daphne and Harry with a fat amount of nothing to do for the night. 

"Wanna go to the leaky cauldron? We can get a pint and talk plans, yeah?" Harry asked standing up and grabbing his glass of pumpkin juice. 

"Yeah, that sounds great." Daphne responded, tossing the pair of boots Harry had bought her on. "I wanna grab a paper while we're out as well."

Harry nodded helping her into her jumper. She was still a bit weak from the potions. It definitely wasn't some odd sort of chivalry. Definitely not. 

Harry turned the television off with the remote and grabbed their glasses from the coffee table, placing them both easily in the sink. He grabbed both wands and secured them, before grabbing the large bowie knife and tucking it in the sheath under his left arm. He tugged his weather impervious leather jacket and tugged it on.

It felt like the leather jacket was the last real connection to Sirius that he still had. It had a big back patch of some sort of cross with the word 'Crass' around it, and some buttons and other little patches here and there. Harry loved it.

"Very punk rock of you, Pining-potter? Merlin that fucking sucked. I'll get you one day."

"Yes, Daphne-dear." Harry responded playfully as they locked up and started the March through the rain to get to the pub. "English tradition, this is." Harry said with a smirk towards the blonde. 

"The pub in general is, Potter." She said, chuckling as he made sure to splash his doc marten boot in every puddle he came across. "Making up for lost childhood?"

"How could you tell?"

"Oh.... just a lucky guess." She responded playfully, splashing in one of the puddles herself and pushing Harry towards one of the large puddles that lined the street. He caught himself on a pole and grinned like a kid on christmas, laughing maniacally as he started to chase after her. She ran as fast as she could, stopping just before the entrance as Potter finally caught up with her, splashing and soaking her jeans.

Daphne couldn't help but to shiver even as they made it through the door and towards a booth near the hearth. Hannah Abbott greeted them warmly and dropped a few menus off after taking their drink orders for a pitcher of Lager. 

Daphne couldn't seem to stop shivering and it was only then that Harry thought to slide his leather jacket around her shoulders. It was about four times her size but it was comfortable and made her warm. Harry sent a drying and warming charm her way as the drinks finally got there. 

They each poured a pint and looked at each other. "Okay, so, do you remember anything about where you were being kept?" Harry asked, biting the bullet and getting straight to it.

"It was dark, the inside of it seemed to be some sort of a basement. I know that the rest of the building was abandoned though. I would only hear noises when he was there, and there was nothing else in the basement."

"So tomorrow we should go to the ministry and try to see if we can find properties he owns." Harry took a drink and seeing the far off look in Daphne's eyes he took her hand in his own from across the table.

"That seems like a lead. I know that the window I stared out of was pointed towards the east as the morning was the primary time I was able to see the sun. It was honestly the only thing keeping me going." She squeezed Harry's hand like a life line. 

"That's good information to have. We'll be able to knock out some of the options that way."

"So the prophet had it right, eh?" Hannah asked knowingly as she stopped by the table to take their order, looking down at their entwined fingers.

"What about the prophet?"

"You both deserve happiness. You hold onto Harry, Daphne. He's a good guy." Hannah responded, dropping a paper off on the table. 

"Shepherd's pie for both of us." Daphne ordered, smiling awkwardly at the waitress. As Hannah left they both looked down at the paper.

New love for the Man-Who-Lived?

By Anita Sketcher

Faithful readers, at the end of this long war that has taken the life of many of our family members, it can become hard to focus on the positives, some of those being love blossoming at the strangest of times. Following the vanquishment of He-who-must-not-be-named, Harry Potter, 17, seemed to have slipped out of the public's eye. But recently dear viewers we have had a sighting.

Harry potter was seen with esteemed and orphaned pure blood heiress, Daphne Greengrass walking arm in arm, along with shopping together and even holding hands in public. 

I dont know about you readers, but I personally believe that Harry deserves all the happiness he can get. And Harry, if you're reading this, Daphne is beautiful and we hope that you're happy. We're rooting for you.

Both of them were incredibly red in the face by the time they finished the article and were sipping their beer, trying to look anywhere but at each other. Daphne however still had a slight grip on his hand, her index and middle fingers wrapped up in his own.

Hannah stopped by one more time and dropped off the plates, and just then was Daphne willing to let go.

* * *

June 20th, 2:31 pm

Daphne let out a rather large belch before squeaking and covering her mouth. "Merlin, that was incredibly rude. I'm sorry, Har-"

A loud belching interrupted her apology as Potter slapped his stomach playfully a few times, the two of them wandering around Diagon Alley, an umbrella above them to keep the rain away. 

"What was that?" He asked playfully, bumping her hip with his own. "Big day tomorrow, I don't even know what to do with ourselves today. Was only a few weeks ago I was trapped in that tent and couldn't do anything, now I have no idea what to do." Harry huffed, only half kidding.

"Back to the pub?" Daphne offered before laughing. "Mmm... I dunno."

Harry heard the flash of another camera and turned around, trying to find the source, growing more and more irritated. "You'd think we were engaged or something with how they treat this gossip." Harry shook his head as Daphne giggled. 

"I wanna go explore something."

"Oooooh. I think I know just the place." Harry grabbed her hand and spun on the spot, the two of them arriving outside of- "The address is Number Twelve Grimauld place."

"Mmm... fidelius. Interesting, Mr. Potter." She winked at him as they climbed the few stairs into the building. As they stepped inside a screaming could be heard from the stairwell, along with the attempts at settling it down from a very hoarse voice.

"Kreacher?"

"Kreacher thought the half breed master was dead. How fortunate that he made it out of the dark lord's clutches." Harry couldn't tell if this was sincere or not. 

"Yes Kreacher, Voldemort is dead now." Harry said monotonous, walking past the painting that was still screeching at Harry. He turned around to apologize to Daphne before noticing exactly where she was. Just out of eyesight of the painting, she was practicing an incredibly haughty expression, robes from the coat rack near the door tugged on over her form fitting muggle clothes. 

"Madame black, I hate to interrupt your ranting and raving..." Daphne drawled, coming closer to the painting, "but I must say, the way you're talking to Lord Potter-Black is atrocious. And as his betrothed, and the Matron of the Noble and Most ancient house of Greengrass, I must request that you stop that immediately."

Walburga Black sat back inside of her painting in stunned silence. "The Boy- I mean, Heir, has finally done something I approve of.." she paused, pondering, "I must alert the others." And with that she walked off.

"Fucking hell, Daphne, where did you learn all that shite?" Harry said, on his knees, laughing, tears pouring out of his eyes as he bowed before her. 

"Pureblood Heiress, duh? Father wanted me to be able to show up those stuck up twats we went to school with. Also," she summoned a bookcase to put in front of the painting. It fit perfectly, "fuck that painting. What a cunt."

The two spent the afternoon exploring the random rooms throughout the house, going from library to parlor to bedroom, in every one of them Daphne acted as Pureblood as possible in made up scenarios, causing harry to laugh the hardest he had in as long as he could remember.

* * *

June 20th, 3:43 PM 

"Do guys really like this shit?" Daphne asked towards Harry who was lying next to her, both of them staring at magazines pilfered from Sirius's pornography stash. "I mean, just look at how fake this is. Like, the positions are hot, of course, no denying, but seriously. Look at her." The woman in questions breasts were twice the size of Harry's head, and her waist thinner than his thigh. 

"I know what I'm into. Definitely not that. But Sirius seemed to love it." Harry laughed, looking over to the magazine Daphne was holding, it being leaps and bounds more scandalous than the playboy he was flipping through. 

"Oh, and what are you into, Mr. Potter?" She asked, voice seductively teasing him as she rolled over to look at him.

"Oh... you know.." Harry stuttered out awkwardly, trying to not look directly at her. "How about pizza tonight?" He asked in a terrible change of subject, "preferred toppings?"

Daphne, continued to stare at him and gave him a brief peck on the cheek. "You're too cute when you're nervous, Harry." She tossed the magazine down and stood up, "pepperoni and Jalapenos is the only way to go, obviously." She walked around the room, touching the occasional piece of clothing or letter that was still out and about. 

"Breadsticks?" 

"Oh Merlin, yes."

* * *

June 20th, 9:45 PM 

"So what the hell is the point of this show then?" Daphne asked, working a wisk through the batter that she had been making, cookbook open on the counter.

"Well, the guy, he believes in the supernatural, ya know, aliens and that kinda shite, and the girl doesn't, but she keeps seeing things that she has a hard time disproving. It's confusing, but super fun to watch." Harry grabbed another piece of pizza and looked back at her as she got some of the oil up to the correct temperature. 

Harry had realized, as he watched Daphne, that this was some odd sort of outlet for all the evil she had felt from Dolohov. A way to work through it on her own. She dropped some of the doughnut batter down into the oil and looked up at him, shooting him a big smile, still as reserved and shy, but slowly bringing down her walls.

"So why is it called The X-Files?" She asked, head slightly tilted as she kept her eyes on the pan of oil, using a pair of tongs to flip a few of the pastries.

"I guess the letter 'X' is supposed to be mysterious or something. That's a really good question that I don't have a good answer for."

"We'll just have to watch more of it, yeah?" She laughed, pulling a few of the donuts out of the oil and setting them on a paper towel covered plate. 

"That sounds like a plan, Daphne-dear." Harry responded easily. 

"Big day tomorrow, yeah? Maybe we oughtta turn in early tonight?" Daphne turned the burner off and walked with the plate of freshly powdered donuts back into the living room, and took her seat next to Harry again.

He liked to sit in the middle, dead center of the three cushion couch, and she was definitely more of an armrest person. She made sure to sit as far away from the door as possible, despite all the alarms and wards, she was still a very nervous person.

Her knee bumped into his as she sat down and wrapped the blanket from the back of the couch around the front of her. "I love this show though." She said, face covered with powdered sugar as she took a big bite of the donut. 

"Oh yeah, the Simpsons is brilliant." Harry said, grabbing one of the donuts and putting his feet up on the coffee table. 

Daphne leaned her knee a little more against his own getting comfortable. "I really want to get this guy, Harry. I want it more than I've ever wanted anything in my life."

"I do too. I want him to pay for what he's done to you, and I want to make sure he'll never be able to do it again to some other girl."

Daphne looked at him, "once again, just being too damn sweet." She chuckled and shifted, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him close. "I feel like I haven't said it enough, Harry, but thank you." She stayed with her face buried in his neck, his arms holding her tight around the waist.

"Nothing to thank me for. Saving people is kinda my thing."

"Yeah, but not enough people thank you for it." Daphne said, very matter of factly. She pulled away slightly before kissing him on the cheek, causing both of them to turn bright red, "So, thank you."

Harry smiled and slowly touched her leg, causing her to gently place her legs over his knee, both not willing to look at each other as they stared at the television. 


	5. Chapter 5

June 21st, 9:03 AM

Daphne awoke still tucked tightly against Harry's chest, having had the best sleep in what felt like years. Her fingers traced little circles along his t-shirt, baring the name of some sort of muggle band.

"Sleep better?" Harry asked her, voice soft. That was something she definitely appreciated about him. He was so quiet and gentle around her in the mornings and the nights, when dreams and nightmares were still fresh on her mind. 

"Much." She said, cuddling closer to him, feeling vulnerable and not actually minding it for the first time in her life. "The nightmares were much more manageable."

"Good." Harry responded, lightly petting her hair. "Ready for our big day?"

"Ready to get home and have a few pints when it's all over more like."

"Woman after my own heart." Harry said with a laugh, grabbing his wand from the bedside table and casting a charm to get the coffee pot started. 

"Very possibly." She responded, climbing off of Harry and making her way into the bathroom to let her poor bladder get some rest.

It hadn't been easy, but for some reason, her walls seemed to fall apart around Harry, there was something about him that just set her at ease. And the way he helped her talk about things was therapeutic. He would either wait until they were on the couch together or wait until she was trying to cook or bake something, and bring up the topic. 

Harry really was her savior and not just the way he was with everyone else in the wizarding world, or even with how he had saved her from imminent death. It went a lot deeper than that, saving her from the after effects of the torture, those not visible.

* * *

June 21st, 9:45 AM

Harry and Daphne stepped out of the floo and into the main lobby of the Ministry of Magic, the crowd bustling and generally affecting the both of them, if the fear in Daphne's eyes was anything to go by. Harry still didn't trust crowds, proven by the way he carried two wands along with a large knife concealed under his left arm.

Making their way through the whispers of the crowd towards the elevator, Harry reached out, taking Daphne's hand in his own, a reflex they both had taken to as of late. Harry had to resist the urge to light a cigarette, instead just tucking it behind his ear. 

They finally got an elevator and began making their way to the Floo network office, the only place Harry could think of where they may keep some sort of address book

In a perfect world, this would make the most sense. Hell, in most worlds this would make sense. Unfortunately magic was not keen on running on sense alone; especially given the stupidity of bureaucracy and all it entailed.

* * *

June 21st 11:25 AM

A little under two hours later found them in the office for the misuse of magic, both of them dead-eye-staring at any of the poor secretaries who might look their way. Harry was openly smoking a cigarette in the office when the man made his way back up to the counter.

"Mr. Potter, I'm going to have to ask that you put-"

"I'm the bloody chosen one and slayer of Voldemort, I'll smoke where I like." Harry responded crossly, clearly irritated beyond belief.

"Yes, so we were finally able to compile a list of all properties owned by Mr. Dolohov. Here you are." He handed a thick folder towards the two of them.

"Bloody hell, it's about time." Harry mumbled as Daphne said a very unthankful "thank you" to the secretary. They each turned and headed back towards the elevator oncemore, eager to be out of the ministry of mediocrity. 

"Something stronger than lager after all that shite, love?" Harry said, the term of endearment seeming to slip out on it's own. He blushed.

"I could go for some whiskey at this point, Mr. Potter." Daphne said, "Leaky Cauldron? We can flip through the folder while we're there." 

"The leaky sounds perfect"

* * *

June 21st 1:14 PM

After apparating to Diagon Alley, the two made their way through the crowds, hands clasped tight, toward their preferred pub. Harry pointed towards the same booth they used last time and lead the way. 

They settled in the booth and set about opening the file up, beginning to look through as Hannah stopped over and grabbed their orders, two double firewhiskeys along with a cider and lager each. Harry thumbed through the multiple pieces of paper, amazed at just how much land Dolohov seemed to own.

"So we can go ahead and toss anything not within the country, like scotland and the like." Harry advised, lighting a cigarette and grabbing his cider as he started flipping through earnestly. 

"That's easily a quarter of it. I just feel so defeated at this point. There are literally hundreds of properties here. Like, wonder why the bloody dark lord had him under his thumb. Obviously the dark lord aspired to be a fucking real estate mogul."

Harry laughed darkly, ashing his cigarette. "Well, we have time today, wanna start checking these out after we finish a drink and get some food?"

"Sounds like a plan, love" Daphne responded, blushing red as she drank some of the liquid courage. "Are we going to be able to go inside?"

"That reminds me..." Harry began, thumbing through the numerous pages, tugging out a few.

"Those ones the occupied properties? Literally thought of that as soon as you started speaking. Great minds and all."

Harry nodded, stubbing his cigarette out and taking another gulp. "Yeah, so we're down to... 38 properties total. Not bad, right?"

"Not bad at all." Daphne beamed at him, the nervousness that lingered in her stomach refusing to be shown on her face. "We'll find it, and then we'll find him."

"No matter what, love. That kind of evil can't be allowed to roam around unchecked." Harry took her hand in his own, thumbing through more of the files. "There may be more information on him at the Black library. We can go check that out after we look through a few of these places."

Daphne picked her glass of firewhiskey up for a cheers. "To finding Dolohov." 

"Cheers."

* * *

June 21st 11:21 PM

Harry and Daphne had spend the better part of the day going through the list of properties and had made it through about 15 of them after leaving the bar. They sat now in the Black family library, empty bottles sitting on numerous surfaces around the couch that they had taken over for their research.

As they sat looking through numerous Merlin-knows-how-old tomes, Daphne was laying on the couch, her thighs laying on top of Harry's completely stretched out and comfortable. They were covered up with a large quilt that Harry had found and he was absentmindedly rubbing Daphne's ankle and calf with his free hand.

The fireplace seemed to roar and out stepped Neville longbottom staring directly down the length of two wands. "Well, I finally found you Harry." He chuckled. "Been looking for you all day. Just decided to check here before heading home." He turned to look at Daphne, "Cousin," he said with a nod and a smirk her way. "Harry potter, eh? Quite a catch."

Daphne blushed. "Oh c'mon now Neville. Don't believe everything you read." She took a drink out of her Lager that had been floating near her head. 

Neville gave her a pointed look at the way she was still laying practicality in Harry's lap and she chuckled to herself at the blush creeping up Harry's neck.

"Anyway Neville," Harry began, fighting the blush still and forcefully changing the subject. "You heard anything about Dolohov recently? We have a list of properties. Still have like 20 to go through. Daphne has her best friend coming in to help us, and I assumed you might wanna help out."

"Fucking of course, Harry. You're my mate, and Daphne is family. Say no more. Meet up tomorrow at your flat?"

Harry nodded. "Thought we might do teams. Me and Daphne and you and Tracey."

"Tracey Davis?"

"Yeah, mate." Harry smirked at how nervous Neville seemed already.

"S-sounds perfect mate... See you tomorrow around 9?"

"Daphne isn't awa-"

"Harry isn't awa-"

"Got it. Noon."

* * *

June 22nd 11:30 AM

Harry awoke with a slight pressure on his chest, opening his eye, it became obvious that Daphne had once again fallen asleep on top of him. "Kreacher."

The elf appeared with a deep bow, "yes bad master?"

"Coffee." Harry scratched the back of his head, Daphne stirring slightly. Harry gently pushed some of her hair back behind her ear, "Love, we gotta be going soon."

"Five more minutes..." she grumbled, nuzzling closer to his chest. She opened her eyes when Harry pressed his lips against her forehead. 

"Gotta be there in like half an hour. Nev and Tracey may even be there already. Kreacher has the coffee going." He started to sit completely up, Daphne coming with him until she was sitting directly in his lap, straddling him completely. 

"Right where I want you first thing in the morning, Potter." She said in almost a whisper.

Harry could feel his pants tighten a bit as he looked into her eyes, slowly leaning in, their lips just inches apart. As their lips almost brushed together, the tell tale sound of apparition filled the room. "Good mistress, Kreacher has made your coffee in the customs of the sacred 28." He stated with as much respect as possible, Bowing low before turning to Harry. "Bad master, your coffee, black with muggle cigarettes on the side." He uttered in disgust.

Both still teens looked at each other with a blush. Daphne leaned in and pecked his cheek quickly before addressing Kreacher. "Thank you Kreacher. That will be all."

"Thabk you mistress. Yes mistress. Mistress will restore this house to its former power, Kreacher just knows it." He muttered before disapparating with a crack. 

Daphne untangled herself from Harry and grabbed the coffee from the table. "Hopefully we're not late." She offered a hand to Harry and he stood, lighting his cigarette and taking a deep drink from his own cup. 

"That elf is a fucking prick, but he makes great coffee."

* * *

June 22nd 11:45 AM

The floo lit up brilliantly and out stepped the half blood Tracey Davis, her eyes scanning through the flat for any occupant. 'Of course noone is here yet' she thought to herself.

Tracey made her way to the kitchen and set about making a pot of coffee. From her 8 years spent as Daphne's best friend she knew that Daphne wasn't an actual person until after her second cup of coffee. She was grumpy and mean spirited until that second cup was finished and then she was honestly the best person to be around. 

The floo fired up again and out stepped a tall man, 5 o'clock shadow playing at his cheeks despite it being around noon. He was no sight for sure eyes. A sword was strapped to his belt and a wand in his hand. "Davis, yeah?"

"Oh no, love. You call me Tracey. You are quite scrumptious though, aren't you?" Tracey looked him up and down, causing the Boy- sorry, the man, to blush...

"I-it's very n-nice to meet you, Tracey." He said, holding a hand out to the pale brunette. Her hair had been chopped short, hanging just above her shoulders, an act of defiance towards the death eaters that had taken over her school. Fuck those old traditions. 

"Oh no, darling. You've met me before. Saved me before. You remember that 5th year slytherin you hit with a blasting curse to the back?" Neville nodded, unable to speak, so Tracey continued. "That was Robert Selwyn. He was planning on taking me right then. Had me disillusioned and under the imperius. As far as I'm concerned, I owe you a life debt. And let me tell you something, Neville. Darling?" Neville nodded along nervously, any semblance of acting tough or mysterious completely gone. "I repay my debts." 

Tracey smirked as Neville seemed to shudder in anxiety. "Come on now, love. I'm not going to hurt you or anything." She purred. "Now how do you take your coffee?"

* * *

June 22nd 12:05 PM

A pop echoed throughout the flat as Harry and Daphne arrived, coffee in hand and trail of smoke following behind Harry. He was still getting used to having Daphne around. Everything this morning was... a little confusing to say the least but still... 'she likes me. She definitely likes me.' Harry smiled at the thought. 

As he looked around he finally spotted Tracey and Neville, deep in conversation and sitting extremely close together. Their hands were knotted together and Tracey seemed to be looking at Neville with Unabashed adoration. 

"Neville." Harry said with a smirk, causing the two of them to jump. He turned to Tracey, repeating Neville's words from yesterday verbatim. "Neville Longbottom, eh? Quite a catch."

"He really is." Tracey instantly responded. "Saved my life last year in school. Got a date tonight after we get through these houses." Daphne smiled at her friend, as harry stared on at the two of them. 

"Too early for this." He looked at Daphne, "Refill, Daphne-dear?"

"Yes please." She answered easily, handing him her cup and rubbing his arm slightly as he passed by on his way to the kitchen. "You two hungry? May have some leftovers in the cupboard." 

Neville shook his head but Tracey spoke up. "Sure. Had my eye on that nan bread." She stood and grabbed it from the cupboard. Harry made his way back towards the bar as the other three sat down opposite him. He sat Daphne's cup down in front of her. "So. We have 23 locations left. I figured we'd divide up into teams. See anything weird, patronus the other team. After watching some 'X-Files', Daphne decided we're strike team Mulder. You two are obviously strike team Scully." Tracey and Neville looked at each other confusedly before looking back to Harry. "We all have our locations?" After a chorus of nods, "let's find this bastard."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un beta'd, hopefully the story outweighs any grammatical errors. Thanks for reading, lemme know what you think!

June 22, 3:23 PM

The seventh house was the worst, Harry thought, gagging a bit as he thought back. He was glad Daphne wasn't able to make it inside of the building before him. The smell of decay hung heavy in the air, sickly sweet and infusing into anything and everything around it. 

The worst part was just how many there were, it looked as if someone had gone into a pet store, gotten every rodent they could and started torturing. Nailed to small crosses, disembowled with quills, still living rats having their eyes carefully pulled out, not letting the tendons be cut so that the rat could watch itself in horror.

"This guy's a fucking monster, Daphne." Harry said, wrapping an arm tight around her, keeping her as close as humanly possible. "Thank Merlin you were able to escape. I don't want to think about the alternative."

"You're telling me. V-Voldemort was more dangerous, but I feel like Dolohov may be more sadistic. I mean look at that." She said, motioning to the house that the aurors were currently looking through.

An ethereal hyena appeared before them, and in Tracey's voice it spoke clearly to them, "Guys? I think we may have found it."

"You ready?" Harry asked carefully, arm still wrapped around her waist.

"Now or never, right love?" She chuckled darkly.

* * *

June 22nd 3:51 PM 

The house was terrifying to say the least, in many ways completely unlike the previous house. The outside was plain, and harry observed that it looked normal, too normal like the houses lining the street on Privet Drive.

The inside was fairly normal through the majority of it, obviously it had once been furnished beautifully and all of the furnishings were still there, albeit unused. The basement though, was the most terrifying part of the entire house.

The walls had been covered with newspaper clippings, articles and obituaries. Pictures of Daphne lined the walls, string and pushpins winding between the multiple pieces of parchment all coming together to create an odd black and white collage of Daphne's face.

The restraints that had held her in place still were there, being placed in some kind of strange makeshift altar, strands of her hair placed on a small shelf in the middle of the entire thing. 

On the opposite wall, etched into the very stone in crudely drawn letters it stated, 'I WILL FIND YOU'. Harry's arm reflexively tugged her just a bit tighter, as he had yet to let go of her since the previous house. "Alright... I feel like something here may be trapped, we should definitely be extremely careful."

"Harry..." Neville called over, pointing to the middle of the collage, "This is recent."

Harry let her go and walked over looking at the picture his fellow gryffindor alumni was pointing at. It was a picture of the two wandering through Diagon Alley, both of them wearing extremely happy expressions, and both seemed to be missing their eyes, as if they had been 'x-ed' out with a pen knife.

"Only slightly horrifying." Harry muttered to himself. He turned around and walked back up to Daphne who's eyes were stuck on the makeshift altar. "Would you feel safer at Grimauld? There's a lot older wards there." Harry felt scared for her, but overall there was an overwhelming urge to destroy whoever's had hurt his Daphne. His Daphne. That was a thought best not looked into too deeply.

Daphne simply nodded, grasping his arm at the bicep, her free hand coming down to entwine fingers, she spoke softly as if afraid to be discovered, "Yes please."

"We're staying with you tonight, Daphne." Tracey muttered to her best friend as Neville went upstairs to send off a patronus to the Aurors.

Daphne began to nod in understanding before quickly looking up at Harry. "Can we get out of here? This is really freaking me out. I'm terrified right now."

Harry nodded and began to lead her outside, leaving Tracey alone in the basement, looking at the odd leatherbound book in front of her, laying haphazardly on a shelf. She easily picked it up and put it in the pocket of her jacket.

Harry led Daphne out of the house, her fingers still wrapped in his own and her opposite hand grasped at his bicep. "Are you okay?" He asked gently, already knowing the answer but nonetheless knowing it might help to just be acknowledged. 

"I just really wanna be home right now." She spoke equally as quiet, trying her best to not let her face betray the actual emotions she was feeling.

With a twist they disapparated into the parlour of Grimauld place. 

* * *

June 22nd 4:10 PM 

Neville cautiously approached Tracey Davis, hands only slightly shaking. "Did Harry and Daphne leave already?"

The instant he had sent out his patronus the Aurors had been there, scoping out the place and detecting traps. The two stood outside watching the Aurors work, a cigarette between the lips of the brunette slytherin. 

"Yeah, they left. I think being here freaked Daphne out again so Harry took her to 'grim old place'"

"Number 12 Grimauld Place."

A look of understanding seemed to come across Tracey's face, "Fidelius charm. Interesting. Well, hero, I think we should leave those two alone for a while. I'm sure that Daphne needs some alone time, meaning that we should go get some coffee or something while we wait, yeah?"

Neville blushed at the word hero and nodded at her with a smile. "That sounds incredible."

"Good. Some time with the legendary Neville longbottom all to myself." She grinned, going up on her tiptoes to peck his cheek. "Also, you're staying at Harry's tonight. No excuses. I want to properly thank you." She winked at him, causing him to turn bright red at the innuendo.

* * *

June 22nd, 6:34 PM

Daphne sat on the couch looking down at her hands, platinum blonde hair put up in a messy bun, "I'm just so tired of being freaked out, Harry. Like.. I need to get better with my wand or something. I just can't believe he's been that close to us." She shuddered, squirming slightly closer to him.

They had arrived at Grimauld Place and immediately sent Kreacher for their things from the old Apartment. They had immediately holed up in the library, watching the muggle world move slowly around them from the protection of the fidelius charm.

They each nursed a small glass of whiskey and were bundled up under a blanket, Daphne refusing to let go of Harry since they had gotten back. "Fuck, Harry." She began, grabbing his pack of cigarettes off the table and lighting one for herself, a habit she had recently picked up when they drank, "I've just completely up-ended your life, just fucked it all up with my drama. Like, you could be home, watching TV or going out to parties, going out with your friends, instead you're stuck dealing with me crying and constantly-" she hiccupped and hit her cigarette as he lit one himself, "having to try and fix whatever is going on with me. I'm just so sorry, and if you want me to just le-"

Harry pressed a finger to her lips as she was talking. "That's about enough of that, I think. Daphne Greengrass. You're an amazing woman, and there's no way I'd rather spend my days than hanging out with than you. You've not ruined my life. You've given me a purpose again. I have no aspirations when it comes to careers. I wanted to be an auror, that kinda went to shit. I have enough money, so that doesn't matter." He took a drag from his cigarette, carefully taking his finger off her lips and leaned his forehead against her own. "You're not a bother. You're not damaged goods. And if you say that one more time I'm gonna... Fuck, I dunno. Not hold your hand for a day? I dunno." He softly kissed her cheek. "You're not going anywhere. And we're gonna get this asshole Dolohov. Now I don't know about you, love, but I'm starving. Let's go make something, yeah?"

Daphne nodded, forehead still pressed against his own. "Sounds wonderful, Harry." She smiled at him affectionately as he helped her to her feet.

* * *

June 22nd, 8:12 pm

The kitchen was a wreck by the time they had finished making their bolognese and the act along with the mess had forced Kreacher's hand, forcing them both out of the kitchen. Daphne smirked mischieviously at Harry as they were ejected and he grinned at her. "We worked so hard, I hope he doesn't try to poison us for buggering up his kitchen." Daphne said, causing Harry to laugh.

"Well, he said he'd bring it to us, so that's a win, I suppose. Where are we eating, Daphne-dear?" Harry asked, eyes easily moving up her body, something he had noticed he did at least ten times an hour nowadays.

"Obviously the Dining parlour, Lord Potter-Black." Daphne replied, nose in the air as she summoned some evening robes, the kind of robes that a cigarette holder would not be far from. Robes that screamed she had killed her husband, but you couldn't prove it, **copper**. She walked haughtily, extremely exaggerated movements moving her towards the library they had stayed in for the past few hours. 

"Regular lady of the house over here, yeah?" Harry laughed as they walked along. "Well, Madame Greengrass, you should know this is the Libr-"

"Lord Black-Potter, you should know, this was recently turned to the Library in 1643. Prior, it was the dinner parlour. Uncultured swine." She harumphed and moved towards the wireless, turning it onto the muggle station, banishing the ghastly robes. "Ooh, the cranberries. She has such a pretty voice. Dance with me?" Daphne motioned for him to join her, kicking off her slippers so she could get better traction on the rug.

Harry laughed and placed a hand on her hip, the opposite hand grabbing her hand gently. "Any time." They swayed lightly, not really dancing but not staying stationary either just looking at each other. 

Daphne slowly wrapped her arms around Harry's neck eyes staring deeply into his own. Harry licked his lips and leaned down, getting so close he could smell the whiskey on her breath as the floo came to life, Neville stumbling out with a packed bag slung over his shoulder.

At Harry's downtrodden and slightly embarrassed look down at her, she leaned up on her tip toes and pecked his lips quickly causing a serious blush across his cheeks before turning around to greet her oblivious cousin. "Well, about time you got here, Longbottom."

"Oh hush it, Greengrass. Your Gal-pal should be here momentarily." Neville had a bit of a dreamy look on his face at the mention of her. "Why the hell you never mentioned her to me, is a mystery."

"Why? Just realizing how great she is?"

"Merlin yes. I've never met someone so incredible. Went to get coffee and just... wow."

Harry smirked, sharing a look with Daphne. "Good on ya, mate. She's a friend of Daphne's. Gotta be great." He said with a wink towards Daphne. 

"Kiss ass." Neville muttered good naturedly, smirking at Harry.

Harry merely shrugged as the floo lit up again, and Tracey stumbled out, Neville catching her as she almost face planted. "My hero. Again" she cried out dramatically, pecking his cheek before making her way towards the couch opposite Harry and Daphne's preferred one. 

"So, dinner and drinks, yeah?" The other two nodded as Neville sat next to Tracey who had already kicked her shoes off and placed her legs in Neville's lap. "Perfect."

Daphne looked up to Harry as he poured both of them another generous amount of whiskey. "Tracey takes her liquor either as gin, or as tequila, depending on the night. Neville on the other hand..."

Harry smirked at Neville, "Bourbon. You yank."

"Oi!"

"Now boys, settle down." Tracey said with a smirk, "Trying to make us hot and bothered with all that fighting and testosterone?"

Daphne laughed as both boys blushed, dinner trays appearing as Harry sat the glasses of liquor down, taking his place oncemore next to his Daphne. 

* * *

June 22nd, 9:30 pm

The sounds of lust could be heard all through the house, moaning and uttered little occasional 'fuck''s. Clearly, Neville and Tracey were enjoying themselves, Daphne thought to herself as she wiggled a bit closer to Harry. The two of them had just been laying there, laughing softly occasionally at the sheer awkwardness of the entire situation. 

"Neville has never been one for privacy charms. Dunno if it comes from being forgetful or if he just thinks himself an exhibitionist."

"Oh Tracey is definitely an exhibitionist. I've seen her naked more times than I've seen myself in the buff."

Harry laughed out loud and the cries of ecstasy seemed to quiet for a moment before continuing again, albeit aofter this time. "Did you like what you saw, Ms. Greengrass?" Harry whispered huskily in her ear, causing her to squirm against him.

Daphne tapped her chin a few times. "Only when it was the two of us together. I didn't like seeing her with boys."

Harry coughed, clearly shocked. "Wait... really?"

"No not really, you dunce. I'm clearly a..." she turned around and ran her fingers slowly up his chest, "wizard's witch." She stared up at him and made a move to kiss him which he intercepted. 

"As much as it's killing me not to make a move on you, right now, you've had at least 4 glasses of whiskey. And that's not right." Harry internally cursed himself for not being a scumbag, and reached for his cigarettes. 

"Why can't you just be a normal guy this one time, Harry?" She sighed, wiggling herself tightly against him, causing him to groan outward. 

"You're making this really hard to say no..." He groaned out, eyes rolling back slightly. 

"That's the point, Darling." She spoke easily, getting as close as possible "... but Harry?"

"Yes love?"

"In the morning I won't be drunk, and then there will be no excuses for not letting me properly thank you." She said, hand grazing the front of his pajama bottoms, rubbing gently at the appendage currently pressed tight against her. 

"Fuck. I wouldn't be able to make up one anyw- fuck Daphne...anyway." he sighed as she pulled her hand away and grinded against him again to get to her comfy place. She grabbed the cigarette from him before he could light it and lit it for herself. "We can share."

He pecked her cheek easily and took the cigarette from her, hitting it twice before passing it back.

"And Potter?"

"Yes, Daphne-dear?"

"I expect a proper snog before anything."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long awaited sex scene. Hopefully it didn't turn out too shabby, or cliche. I think this chapter was pretty good though.

June 23rd, 11:49 AM

Harry awoke to find Daphne's hair directly up his nose. Resisting the urge to sneeze, he snagged his pack of smokes and looked down at her, sleeping so peacefully. She looked so content through most of their time together.

He softly pushed the hair out of her face and kissed her cheek letting his lips longer there for a second, and as creepy as it was, taking a second to smell her. He didnt know if it was pheromones or what, but she just smelled incredible constantly. He smiled down at her as she began to rustle around, wiggling her butt closer to him. "Mmmm" she groaned softly. 

"Good morning Daphne-dear." He said softly, leaning down to softly kiss her forehead this time. 

"Good morning, Harry..." she said softly, leaning up to kiss his cheek as well. "Merlin, I am hungover."

"You're telling me." He rolled over and grabbed a couple of the hangover potions, cracked them both open and handed one off.

Daphne downed her's. "Do they have to make them taste so disgusting?"

"Cherry flavoured, my ass." He laughed and made to stand up before he was immediately tugged back down into bed.

"No, Mr. Potter... I don't believe you're allowed to get up just yet." She grinned at him and pulled him back under the covers, both of them laughing the entire time. "It was a hard day, and we're going to take our time getting out of bed."

"Don't have to tell me twice." He shot her a quick smirk and pulled an ashtray onto his chest, leaning back as she cuddled up close again. Her hands ran up and down his arm and chest slowly, drawing little circles and swirls with her fingertips.

"What's on the agenda today?"

"Well, resting up, going to our flat to get the TV."

"Our?" She asked, face blushing but smirking at him mischievously. 

"Definitely our. You're too ingrained in my life for it not to be 'our'."

Feeling tears beginning, she leaned forward and hugged him tightly. "You're incredible. What did I do to deserve someone like you in my life, Harry?"

"Existed?" He said, fighting the urge to shrug since he really had no response.

"Prat." She said through a watery chuckle.

"Breakfast and then we'll go get the TV, yeah?"

"Sounds incredible. Can I take a bath bef-"

"Daphne. You're a grown woman. You live here. You can take a bath any time you want, love." He kissed her on the cheek and summoned Kreacher, having him start a quick breakfast for them.

"And then I get to thank you later, like I wanted to last night?" 

Harry shivered as she ran her nails up and down his chest. "I'd thought that was just the liquor talking."

"Merlin, no. I've been thinking about it for a while. Since we met again, really."

"As long as you don't feel like you have to or any-"

"Shush, Harry. Let a beautiful woman take advantage of you for once."

"Yes ma'am." He said, laughing.

* * *

June 23rd, 1:08 PM

After a great english breakfast and a quick bath each, the two were finally dressed and almost ready. Daphne sat on the floor in front of the mirror on the back of the bedroom door, putting her eyeliner on and humming some kind of song to herself. 

"Just about ready?"

"Harry, I have to put on my face."

"You're incredible even without it."

"As much as I appreciate that, it's not purely for you. It makes me feel pretty, and I like doing it."

"Super stupid question, but here we go."

"Shoot."

"Does it hurt?"

"Putting on makeup?"

"Yeah, like the eyelash clamps and all that shite. Looks painful."

"Nah. A bit itchy sometimes."

He sat on the bed behind her, watching as she finished the wing of her second eye. "At least it isnt painful."

"Is it painful?" She muttered teasingly in a bad imitation of his voice and laughed.

He laughed and stood up, grabbing his cologne and spraying a bit on his neck before helping her stand. "Ready?"

"Ready."

He smiled and opened the door, walking towards the kitchen, occasionally hip bumping each other.

Neville and Tracey sat at the table in the kitchen, trying to hide their smiles as they heard Harry and Daphne approach.

Daphne looked between the two. "You two certainly had fun last night, yeah?" She smirked and grabbed the carafe of coffee from the counter and poured some into her and Harry's usual travel mugs.

"No clue what you're talking about." Neville said, matter-of-factly as Tracey said, "Amazing time. Will do it again." Neville blushed and Harry smirked at him. 

"You should probably put up some sound wards next time, mate."

"Where's the fun in that, Potter?" Tracey asked sarcastically, letting out a laugh as Harry lit a new cigarette, tossing one to Tracey.

"We'll be out for a bit today. Obviously, you two are welcome to stay as long as you like, and if you need a place to stay, given what the war did to us all, I have too many rooms as it is."

"I have the manor, harry, but thanks mate." Neville responded, taking a drink from his orange juice. 

"I however, have nowhere. I may take you up on that Potter. We'll talk rent later."

"Oh be quiet, Tracey. Its not like we're gonna charge you rent." Harry quipped.

"We?" Tracey asked, arching an eyebrow and pointing between the two.

Both of them blushed at this, "Anywho. We'll be back in a while." Daphne said, avoiding the question.

As they left, Tracey and Neville looked at each other. "Got 20 galleons on them getting together within the week."

"I'll take that bet, Hero. I say three days."

"Two." 

"Its a bet."

* * *

June 23rd 1:19 PM 

As Harry and Daphne apparated into the alley a few blocks from his flat, the sounds of the city seemed to touch every surface around them, sirens being amplified. Harry took her hand in his own as they started the short walk. 

"Well, at least we have everything except the TV, yeah?"

"Very true. Hey Harry?"

"Yes dear?"

"Is swimming any fun?"

"Eh... shit childhood, remember? Never been."

"Well, I'm taking you swimming. Soon. Like. Tomorrow. Cause I've never been either but Daddy always made it sound like a blast."

"That does sound amazing with how hot it's been."

As they got closer, the sirens seemed to get a bit louder, no longer conforming to the generic sounds of the city. "Oh shit." They turned onto Harry's block and he stopped to stare, watching the fiendfyre that was still licking at the edges of where his flat had once been. 

"Oh, Harry..." Daphne said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He stepped forward, casting a few muggle repellant charms around them. He quickly cast a patronus to the Aurors. 

"Well then. The flat is gone. Luckily the only thing there was the TV..." Harry said, his brain in a place far, far away.

"Are you okay? You worked so hard on that place. Lot of sentimental value."

Harry nodded slowly. "Yeah... I'll be okay. Can we.. Can we just get out of here? I don't really feel like talking to the Aurors or anything." 

"Of course. Muggle london?"

"Sounds perfect."

As they turned around to look in the opposite direction, they saw a piece of parchment with a knife stuck through it, the same strange collage of daphne drawn on this page.

I CAN FIND YOU HERE POTTER,

I CAN FIND YOU THERE,

NO MATTER WHAT,

I CAN FIND YOU ANYWHERE

BRING ME THE GREENGRASS HEIR OR YOU WILL FALL, THE SAME AS SHE WILL

Harry stared at the poster for a beat before it lit up in a bout of accidental magic. "Like that'll happen." He muttered under his breath pulling her closer to him. "Fuck. Alright. Alright." And with that they turned around, disapparating deep into muggle London.

* * *

June 23rd 1:46 PM 

"I just cant believe it." Harry said, tossing back the rest of his beer as he and Daphne sat at a small island themed bar at the mall. "Like, the amount of wards up at the flat were crazy. I put them up myself." He shook his head, "Bill checked them himself, and he is literally the best curse breaker I know."

"Harry, he's the only curse breaker you know, but I get your point." Daphne rubbed his arm, hand sliding down to link fingers with him. "We'll get him though. The Aurors have the note, they saw the flat. You'll be able to get him back. Everything is gonna work out love."

"Yeah, it's just kinda a pain in the ass. No way to know that he wont be able to find Grimauld place. Luckily it has the old Pureblood war wards, I suppose. But like, fuck."

"We'll be fine in Grimauld. I'm sure of it. And if not, Mr. Potter, I'm sure you'll be able to protect me." She winked at him and took a sip of her lager. "Well, after that hellacious way to start the day, any preferred way of continuing it?"

"Definitely need a new TV or two for Grimauld. People always say electronics don't work around magic, they dont realize if you battery power everything, it works fine. Couple hand crank generators enchanted to constantly turn, and it's free electricity. Suppose we also need some generators. At least two."

"Perfect. I wanna turn one of the rooms into a kind of war room too. Try and track Dolohov a bit easier."

"Love that idea."

"Thank you." She smiled his way, and he returned it easily. 

"Dunno how the hell you make me so calm. Our house just burned to the ground and I'm more than happy to just walk around the mall with you."

"You said it again."

"Said what, Daphne-dear?"

"Our." She grinned up at him like a kid on christmas morning as they both stood. 

"Well I already explained why I keep doing-" Harry was extremely red in the face as Daphne pressed a finger to his lips. 

"Oh I know. I just like hearing it." She kissed his cheek and stretched. "To the TV store?"

"Sounds perfect."

* * *

June 23rd, 3:18 PM

The two had wandered through an electronics store, just kinda gazing at the size of some of the televisions. They both had mild experience with television, but it wasn't like they had watched them growing up. And it definitely wasn't like everything else that had been in the store, game consoles and home phone systems. 

"What's that?"

"Nintendo sixty four... whatever the bloody hell that means."

"Well, obviously Potter. I mean what is it?" She laughed a bit.

"It's a video game. Bit like TV but like you're in control."

"Weeeeird." Daphne said, staring at the case. "Wanna get one and give it a shot?"

Harry laughed and grabbed one off the shelf, tossing it in the cart next to the television and a variety of cables. "Merlin, I hope all this works off of generators. Worked great for the TV at my flat but I've never tried multiple things. Is there anything else we need?"

"Potter, despite my attempts to fit in, I am a Pureblood. This would be like you going to The Wizengamot only a lot less fun." She smirked at him and bumped his hip with his own as they pushed the cart into the checkout. 

* * *

June 23rd, 6:13

Pizza boxes and empty bottles of lager lined the floor while Daphne and Harry sat directly in the middle of the chaos, sitting with their backs against the king size bed. Tracey and Neville sat a ways away on the floor as well, wires going everywhere as the three of them continued to play with the Nintendo. 

They had been playing since they had gotten home, having spent a little over a thousand pounds on electronics alone. After that they had gone to the grocery and gotten beer an pizza for the longest relaxation night possible. What wasn't relaxing Harry however was how often Daphne would casually touch his arm or leg or just generally anything she could get close to.

On the contrary, it seemed to be doing nothing but getting his blood pumping to the point that he had forgotten all about his flat having been burned down. Between rounds of Mario Kart she would casually rest her hand right on his thigh, the glinting of the many dainty silver rings across every few fingers catching in the artificial light of the television. 

He had tried to get her back, his own hand occasionally brushing against her ribs or along the small of her back, but he was nowhere near as subtle as she was, and when it came to attempts at subtle displays of affection, she was not subtle in the least. 

Daphne's long blonde hair was tied carelessly up into a messy ponytail, and she was in a spare pair of his sweatpants from quidditch, along with a rather low cut vest, that left nothing to Harry's imagination. He couldn't help but stare at her skin, just imagining kissing her just there, and there and there.

"Alright kids, I'm about done staring at this screen and Hero here promised me a trip through the gardens at his manor." Tracey said with false haughtiness, the half blood smirking up at her boyfriend. He grinned down at her, brushing some of her short brown hair behind her ear. 

"Don't worry, I'll have her back by 11, Lord Potter." Neville said with a smirk, and harry laughed halfheartedly, not really paying attention, his eyes flashing to Neville before going right back to Daphne. 

Tracey stood and helped Neville up, both waving as they started to make their way out of the huge master bedroom. 

Daphne turned to look at Harry as the door shut and the pop of disapparation followed. She stood and helped him up. "Well now that they're gone, what do you wanna-"

As Harry's lips pressed into hers, she let out a surprised squeak before relaxing into it, her arms tossed over his shoulders and crossed lazily at the wrists. She could feel it the kiss throughout her body, echoing through every nerve ending, starting in her toes and running all the way up to the top of her head.

"Fucking hell, I've been wanting that all summer, Potter." She said to him as he backed away slightly, tugging him back once more by the front of his shirt, shy smile playing at her lips for the first time in what felt like forever, as her mouth parted slightly for him.

"All summer? It's been like a week, Daph-"

"Shut it, Potter." She said with a grin, kissing him slowly, her fingers running up to slowly rub through her hair.

Harry could do nothing but groan at the pleasure, hands running down and cupping her bum and she responded, wrapping her legs around his waist, ankles locking around his back, her heels pushing into his lower back and pressing him closer to her. "I know it's been a week but..."

"I love you Daphne." Harry said as he kissed her again, laying her down, his lips slowly moving down to her neck as his hands roamed along her body. Cupping her breast, Daphne's head rolled back on the pillow as she let out a soft moan. 

"Fuck, I love you Harry." She said breathlessly, hands running into his hair as she slowly tried to move herself against him. She felt his reaction more than heard it as she felt his shorts get tighter.

He kissed slowly down from her neck, going lower and lower, slowly sliding her vest up over her bare stomach, leaving slight kisses that made her body twitch with excitement. He looked down at her as he pulled it all the way off and smiled, "Merlin, you're so gorgeous." He said, grabbing his wand and cast a couple charms, contraceptive and room silencing, on himself and sent another spell towards the radio, putting on some random band.

She ran her hands up his shirt hungrily, long nails digging slightly into his skin, eliciting a sigh. His shirt was off next and she rubbed along his muscles as he leaned down and took one of her small pink nipples in his mouth, letting his teeth put a slight amount of pressure on it, his tongue dancing slowly along it, tracing gentle circles.

"Fuck Harry..." she groaned out as his hand tugged at her sweatpants. "Fuck, I love you." He kissed a line between her breasts taking the other nipple in his mouth. His fingers slowly rubbed along her hip bones and down towards the inside of her sweatpants and to her soaked knickers. 

Pushing those aside he ran his finger slowly up her slit, causing her to raise off the bed a bit. Her head rocked to the side of the pillow as he tried his best to tug both layers off. He kissed slowly down her body, stopping right along her lower stomach. "I love you Daphne." He said, and even in his clouded mind he could remember them saying it almost constantly but fuck, it just felt so good to say it. 

He kissed down lower, tugging her pants completely off and just stared down at her, causing a blush to come across her face. "Admiring the view..." he muttered, hands running along her legs as he kissed slowly down, his tongue gliding across her clitoris, causing her back to arch off the bed. 

"Oh Merlin..." she groaned out, legs pressing slightly into him as he continued to lick up and down her entrance. Her hands both grabbed his hair and helped guide him to the places she liked the most. "Oh fuck, right there..." she muttered and kept repeating it as she moved her hips against his tongue and lips.

She felt it building deep inside of her as he kept licking and touching her, hands rubbing along the inside of her thigh, down her legs and rubbing along the soles of her feet. Everything just felt so intense. She could feel the love from him as he continued lapping at her. 

"Fuck, Harry. I need you. Please." She groaned out, feeling her release coming close. He tugged his shorts down and positioned himself over her, capturing her lips as he pushed himself slowly inside of her.

He felt her climax along his length as he pushed deep inside of her, her legs wrapping around his hips. He slowly pushed and pulled inside of her, picking up speed as he felt her clench down on him, her hands flung together carelessly, arms crossed at the wrists around his neck as she moaned.

He continued pumping into her, kissing her deeply again between moans, his own tongue moving across her own and teasing her. He felt himself close to his own orgasm as she ran her legs up and put them on his shoulders, the different position already making her claw at the pillows and sheets, climaxing hard all over him.

He kept rocking into her before finally he felt himself beginning to lose control. "Fuck, Daphne. I love you." He groaned out, leaning down to kiss her as he released, filling her with his cum. He collapsed on top of her and her fingernails ran along his back.

"Well that was incredible. Where'd you learn all that?" Her eyebrow raised as he shuddered slightly, pulling himself out of her.

"Seamus had a lot of magazines. I read a lot." Harry laughed, pulling her in close to him and pulling the covers over them. 

"I hope you're not tired, Harry. We're doing that again. Very soon."

Harry grinned at her before letting the smile drop. "Daphne Greengrass? Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Duh, Potter. I've been waiting for that question all sum-"

"All week?"

"All week."


End file.
